The last day of an exhibition wasn’t as busy as the opening. Depending on the nature of the exhibition, there were times when the artist and buyers were invited for a wrap-up party, but this time, it was a joint exhibition by several artists, making it difficult to coordinate schedules. So, it was decided that the Phantom’s representative and Ms. Han would entertain the artists and key clients who could make it separately outside.
As a temporary worker, I didn’t need to come to work in the morning. I came in at closing time to help Yuni and Juhan clean up the exhibition hall. Unlike last time, we just had to take all the artworks down and move them to the storage in the basement.
Maybe because we had worked together before, we finished moving all the artworks to the warehouse and repacking them properly before 10 o’clock. Most of these artworks were scheduled to be delivered to their new owners starting Monday. The two were so excited that the sales rate was almost a record high, and they were expecting a hefty bonus this month, they even danced an unidentified dance in the basement warehouse.
The work was fast, but we were completely exhausted after it was done. It was like the fatigue after a short-distance sprint.
We sat far apart from each other at the office conference table. Juhan was lying face down on the table, using one arm as a pillow, and Yuni was making a strong coffee with two capsules in the coffee machine and drinking it with ice. I also felt a little tired, so I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.
“But you really like stripes, don’t you?”
“Pardon?”
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what she said. It was a reflexive reaction because I heard something unexpected at a sudden moment. Yuni, who had drunk more than half of the coffee that was almost full in her large tumbler, looked a little better.
“You wore a striped T-shirt at the VIP opening and the day before. I can’t believe you’re wearing stripes again today. Thanks to you, I lost the bet.”
Juhan, who had only turned his head this way while lying down, made a V with his fingertips in that position and smiled.
“Thanks, Yeehyeon. Thanks to you, I get to have a meal from Baek Yuni.”
Yuni, who was getting up from her seat and passing behind me, patted me on the back with a smile.
“Then should I be sorry to Kwon Juhan if I had won?”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, that’s true.
“You’ll be even more sorry to me after receiving this. What to do…”
Yuni put a small shopping bag she brought from the desk on the table. The black small shopping bag with the lettering “Old Future” was decorated with a black ribbon.
“What is this?”
“A gift. I thought you were a stripe fanatic, so as soon as I saw this, I thought of you.”
Inside the shopping bag was a black and white striped T-shirt. When I unfolded it, it was a loose-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt with a slightly wide neckline.
“Don’t feel pressured to accept it, it’s not something I bought separately, it’s from the mall we run.”
“No, feel pressured. Take this and feel pressured to work with us. Huh?”
Juhan, who had already moved to the opposite seat, reached out his arm over the table and grabbed my hand with a desperate look. I was happy and grateful that his earnestness to work together was sincere, but I could only smile ambiguously as I recalled the face of the man who emphasized ‘peace and safety’ to me and growled, “Huh? Seo Yeehyeon.” like someone from the underworld.
“But… do you run a shopping mall?”
“It’s a bit much to call it a shopping mall, but if you have to, yes. It hasn’t been open for long. About half a year now?”
Yuni looked at Juhan as she said the last word, as if to check if her memory was correct.
“Our tastes are like this. It’s not easy to find clothes we like. So, we opened a website for comrades who have similar tastes to us. It’s mostly clothes that we buy from overseas business trips, so there are only one or two of each, so the profit isn’t that big. We’re not trying to make a lot of money, we’re just doing it because we like it.”
Juhan spoke lightly as if he were talking about going out to ride a bicycle in front of his house when he had time, but it seemed quite impressive to me. Regardless of how successful they were, I knew that putting thoughts into action was not easy.
“Then aren’t these also clothes that you have to sell?”
“Even so, it’s not expensive, so wear it without feeling pressured. Kwon Juhan and I are not so crazy about money that we would give expensive gifts.”
Yuni, sitting on the table and drinking coffee, lightly ruffled my hair. Just hearing the sound of ice clinking every time she tilted the cup was refreshing.
“Thank you. I’ll wear it well.”
It wasn’t that I had a special reason or insistence on wearing only striped T-shirts. It’s not that I had the eye to choose clothes with sense, and I wasn’t very interested in clothes themselves. Not only about clothes, but it was as if my desire for almost everything had been castrated before I could establish my own taste.
I thought that stripes wouldn’t be too drab and wouldn’t stand out too much. As a result, the tops in my closet were all striped. In fact, I didn’t have that many clothes to say that I only wore striped T-shirts. Even then, I only packed two or three thin long-sleeved shirts that I needed right away when I left my grandfather’s house, so I needed a few short-sleeved shirts in the increasingly hot weather.
But it wasn’t just the joy that it was good timing because I received what I needed as a gift.
The fact that someone was watching me carefully, figuring out my taste, and thinking of me even when I wasn’t there. That unexpected kindness made my heart flutter lightly for a moment.
Their kind hearts, thinking of me with a striped T-shirt, seemed to be gently scolding my social seclusion, which had been rejecting the world outside the narrow relationship made up of sand and form.
Sublime and sacrificial affection may not be the only salvation, I thought somewhat grandly as I looked down at the T-shirt in my hand.
The two wanted to see me wearing it and pushed me behind the partition inside the office. I took off the old long-sleeved T-shirt I was wearing and hung it on the partition, and put on the new clothes from my head. It was awkward because it was a more stylish design than what I usually wore, but the two’s reactions were hot.
“Does the atmosphere change this much with just one T-shirt?”
I chuckled at Juhan’s slightly exaggerated reaction as he was playing a game on his phone.
“Now acknowledge Baek Yuni’s discerning eye.”
Yuni said proudly, crossing her arms and raising her chin, and Juhan, who was sitting in his chair, frowned.
“Baek Yuni, Yeehyeon was pretty even when he was wearing black pants and a cheap T-shirt.”
“He was already pretty, but he’s even prettier now. Admit it, you bastard.”
“Ah, when didn’t I admit it? I admit it, I admit it like crazy. Baek Yuni is the best.”
The two’s compliments, which were throwing around the word “pretty” at me, were as awkward as the T-shirt I was wearing, so I was scratching the back of my neck for no reason, and then I remembered the T-shirt I had left hanging on the partition, so I took it and put it in my bag with the shopping bag.
“How tall are you?”
I rummaged through my memories from the military at Yuni’s question.
“I was about 181cm when I last measured.”
“Maybe it’s because you have a small face and long arms and legs… I thought you were a little taller.”
Yuni scanned me with her eyes from across the table, as if gauging my height.
“It’s just right. It’s not like you’re going to be a model, and it’s not good to be any taller than that, it’s hard to find clothes that fit. 181 that looks like 183~4. It’s just right. I’m jealous.”
Juhan, who looked about 5~7cm taller than me, was tapping on the screen with quick hand movements, as if he was still playing the game. To me, he looked like a model. I had felt that way since I first saw him in the basement storage.
“You have good proportions and a good face, so even if you just change into a black jean and a T-shirt, you look like a model right away. Yeehyeon, you must have heard that you’re an alpha.”
Yuni said almost confidently, but no matter how much I rummaged through my memories, I had never been misunderstood like that. At least, no one had said that to me in person.
“No, not at all…”
“Well, Yeehyeon doesn’t seem like an alpha, but…”
Before Juhan, who had taken his eyes off the screen and was looking at me with a slightly subtle, forceful gaze, could finish his sentence, a noisy sound came from outside the office door.
The front door was locked from the inside, so only people with passes could enter and exit. Everyone looked at each other with a “Who is it?” expression.
“Hello, babies!”
The person who opened the office door and appeared flamboyantly like a musical actor, passing through the hall and corridor, was the man in the passenger seat. Yuni and Juhan sighed openly when they saw his face.
It wasn’t a sincere rejection, but rather a playful greeting that could come out between close friends.
“Our Juhan and Yuni are welcoming me so happily again. What’s with the reaction to someone who came to buy you delicious food?”
The Phantom’s representative, with a dissatisfied expression, followed behind the man, who seemed slightly drunk.
“Representative, why did you bring Inwoo?”
“I didn’t bring him. This guy insisted on going, so I had no choice but to be dragged along.”
He pushed the man in the passenger seat to the side with a tired expression and entered the office.
“Who’s dragging who? I came out to buy delicious food for the babies who must be suffering at Phantom rather than sitting among the noisy and flamboyant fashion people and forcing myself to smile, but you followed me.”
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